The Red River Jig

One of the things the Métis are well known for is the Red River Jig (known as "oayache mannin" in the michif language). Here's a video so you can hear the song performed by Reg Bouvette:

The song has been around since at least the mid-1800s, and the Métis still jig to it. When you hear the term 'Red River Jig' it can refer to both the song and the dance.

The jig was - and still is - popular at Métis  social gatherings.

It consists of two main parts, starting out with a basic step (see the videos below). When the music changes (a subtle lowering of the pitch) the dancer infuses his or her own "fancy steps" until the music goes back to the higher pitch, during which the dancer starts the basic steps all over again. Each time the dancer comes to the fancy step portion (also known as "the change") he/she can add a new set of steps, often getting more and more challenging with each change.

To this day, dancers still compete to see who has the best moves with the most precise steps. Originally, the Red River Jig was danced by a man and woman or two competing men, but today it's often done solo.

The basic step is: right, right, left, right, left, left, right, left. I used to play the drums, and when playing this rhythm with drumsticks, this rhythm is known as a paradiddle!

The best way to know what the Red River Jig looks like is to simply show you. Here are a few different YouTube videos I found of folks doing the traditional Métis dance. Let's start off with a dance off!

And what better way to dance the Red River Jig than in red high-heeled shoes:

Here are the Genaille Girls jigging:

And there you have it! Do you think you can do the Red River Jig? If you send me a video of you trying it out (and allow me to post it on this blog) I'll send you a free copy of  Ox Cart Angel! Just email the video to me at:  joelarnold1968 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks for stopping by!

Great Resources for Learning About the Métis

If you'd like to learn about who the Métis were and are, here are some great resources, many of which I used when researching Ox Cart Angel. Most of them are Canadian based, because most of those who identify as Métis live there. For example, approximately 400,000 people self-identify as Métis in Canada, while only 10,000 do in the U.S. - mainly in North Dakota.

Websites:

Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture

Indigenous Foundations

Métis Nation of Ontario

Turtle Island Productions

Complete History of the Canadian Métis Culture

If you want more comprehensive info, or personal stories, here are some books I'd recommend. If you click on the covers, it will take you to their Amazon page.

Walking in the Woods; a Metis Journey

Metis: Mixes Blood Stories

Contours of a People

Homeland to Hinterland

And for kids:

The Tiny Voyageur

Remember, you can always simply type Metis into your favorite search engine and find all sorts of great information!

Meena kawapimitin!

(see you soon!)

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Michif - the Dying Language of the Métis

Tawnshi!

(hello!)

In Ox Cart Angel, the Métis traders that Claire helps send off in the beginning of the novel are said to speak a language called Michif. Other than that brief mention, I didn't talk about it in the book, so I decided to tell you a little more about it here.

So what was - or rather, what is - the Michif language?

To answer that question, it first helps to understand who the Métis are. They are descendants of a union between a European and Native American parent. Typically, the father was French Canadian and the mother was Ojibwe. The word métis (pronounced may-tee - the 's' is silent) is French and literally means mixed. The Métis developed their own distinct culture over the years, and were a large part of trading between European and Native cultures.

Michif also comes from a mixture of cultures, mainly French and Cree. The nouns come mostly from French, while the verbs are typically Cree. There are also parts of the Ojibwe language in Michif, as well.

a Michif hoodie!

Today, there are very few speakers of the Michif language. Possibly fewer than 1,000, according to this article on Wikipedia, or even less than 500 according to this article - all mainly in North Dakota and parts of Canada.

Fortunately with the internet, there are resources available to learn the language and preserve it. There are even a few books written in Michif, like the alphabet book pictured below.

Owls See Clearly at Night
A Michif Alphabet
-image takes you to its Amazon page-

If you would like to learn some Michif, here are a few good resources:

LearnMichif.com

Native-Languages.org

The Louis Riel Institute

Meena kawapimitin!

(see you soon!)

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The Capote Coat

A popular clothing item for the Metis (as well as many other Native Americans and Voyageurs) was the capote.

No, not this Capote!!!

Ah, that's better...

Some were made of leather, some of blue wool, some white, some gray. Many were made from a single Hudson Bay Blanket, like the one pictured above. As you can see, they are long - thigh-length, with long sleeves, a hood, and were often held together by a Metis sash. Some incorporated buttons and thongs, as well. 

The wool worked great in the winter, since it could hold the wearer's heat, even when the wool got wet.

Hudson Bay Blankets were (and still are) very desirable. You can still buy them today.

This is called a Hudson Bay Point Blanket - the black lines on the left side are called 'points' and helped shopkeepers determine its size even while it remained folded on a shelf.

You can still buy Hudson Bay Point Blankets. Here's a link to a variety on Amazon.

Blackfoot Man wearing Capote circa 1910

Pictured here are members of the Montreal Snow Shoe Club in 1886.
Who knew capotes could make you fly?

Here's an 1845 painting by Paul Kane  with men wearing non-Hudson Bay Blanket capotes:

Portrait of Captain John Henry Lefroy

Lefroy's capote looks like it could be made of leather, and his companion with his back to us wears one of grey wool. Both of them wear a sash with a fire bag attached to it.

In case you're interested in making your own capote, here are a couple websites I found with instructions. 

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/gear/capote.htm

http://www.nwtrader.com/patterns.html

http://www.scoutingvermont.org/pubs/c/27_capote.pdf

Here are some other patterns to check out.

If you decide to make one, or already have one, send a picture of you wearing it, and I'll put it on my blog!

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Ten Uses of The Metis Sash

An integral part of Métis life on the Red River trails was the Métis sash. It was originally called a L'Assumption sash, named for the town in Quebec in which it was created. It is made of wool and typically 3 meters long - which is close to 10 feet - and as you can see in the picture below, quite beautiful.

Métis sash

It looks simple, like a long scarf, yet it had many uses. Here are ten of them.

1 - Belt. It was often worn around the waist to hold a Métis coat - known as a capote - closed. A capote, by the way, was usually made from a Hudson Bay blanket.

A capote coat. Do you see the sash in the middle?

2 - Oven mitt. Of course, there weren't necessarily ovens on the ox cart trails, but if they needed to pull a hot pan or pot of coffee off of the fire, they could use their sash like we use an oven mitt today.

3 - Sewing repair. See the threads dangling on the end of the sash in the picture below? They were more than mere decoration. If a thread was needed for mending something, one of them could be pulled off and used for stitching.

4 - Key, knife, fire-kit holder. Those threads could also be used to attach items like keys. When wrapped around the waist, it often also held a knife on one side and a bag with fire-starting equipment on the other side.

5 - Buffalo marker. While on a buffalo hunt, the Métis sash could be used to mark a buffalo. Each sash had its unique qualities, and a Métis hunter could identify his from other sashes. If he killed a buffalo, he could place his sash on it, so that other hunters would know it was his.

6 - A tumpline. Tumplines were used by voyageurs and the Métis to carry heavy loads over portages or uneven terrain. They would place the middle of the sash over the top of their head and use the two free ends to tie a pack to their back.

7 - Bridle or saddle blanket. 

8 - Tourniquet. In a life-threatening emergency where heavy bleeding was involved, a Métis sash could be used as a tourniquet. It would be tied above an injury to stop or slow the flow of blood, turned tight by a stick or other baton-shaped object.

9 - A rope. 

10 - A scarf. A Métis sash does make a nice scarf!

Here's a closeup of the Métis sash so that you can see the detail:

As you can see, they are quite colorful. The colors have meaning. The red and white represent the mixing of the American Indian and European nations. The blue represents sky and water. Green represents fertility and growth. Yellows represents the sun.

My folks bought me this on a trip to Winnipeg, but you can find some here, too. 

Can you think of any other uses the Métis sash might have had?

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Red River Carts - video

Nicely produced video about the Red River Carts I found on YouTube:

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